March 4, 2013

Kurgan is doing great. We are dealing with some difficulties trying to help some perspective returning elders return to activity and get our investigator in the waters of baptism. He works twenty four hour shifts and we are trying to get the ward accustomed to him and on top of that check his motives for baptism. He says that he would like to find his "beloved second half" by becoming a member. Basically, I hope he understands faith is what drives us to repent and then be baptized. We are working on implementing the commandments into the lesson as we teach the fundamentals such as prayer and reading the scriptures. 

Other than our main investigator we are trying to find people to teach by our own means and that has been successful as well. This past week while leading the advanced group during English we talked about leaders and got on the subject of different types of leaders and governments. Of course, I made sure that we didn't talk about politics. It was a great topic and I got to learn a lot of Russian history in less than 45 min. English Conversation Group is going so well that yesterday we had another lady from my group come to church and she sat right behind the piano boldly to play during sacrament meeting. It was great having someone to play some music during the first hour of church, because I cannot sing solo for too long or people just give me the awkward stare. Usually, I just sing louder to bring some liveliness to the meeting. 

One member here in Kurgan,  has been helping us on meeting a lot lately before he leaves on his mission to England. We had a couple of activities due to it being his last week here with the young single adults and some nonmembers as well. This city for sure has some of the coolest young single adults. We took our dinner hour to play with them a couple rounds of 31 and UNO. By the way every city here in Russia has different rules for UNO. We even had the treat of tasting a Russian creation of overcooked and slightly under-cooked pizza with tons of sauce. I was the sloppiest eater of them all. Luckily  I did not spill on any of my clothes but had a pool of sauce on the napkins which I had laid in precaution. What can I say, eating is a dirty job sometimes. 

This past week as well, we celebrated Elder P's birthday! We got a delicious tort and had a great day giving out a couple of books of Mormon and a number. Everyday the Lord blesses us with something to be happy about and continue forward. I am a strong believer in the quote, "fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to pain, and pain leads to suffering" (Yoda, Star Wars episode 5) This can relate to our spiritual growth due to the fact that we know the gospel of Jesus Christ provides a better path. So many people that I have talked to on the street in the past week have expressed to us that they are believing, but in reality they fail to see the love God has for them and in the end believe that God does not love His children.

The world and Satan are good at placing doubts, stereotypes, and fears into our lives. This of course happens often our lives, especially while trying to stive towards good and rightousness. Our pride clouds our view of the big picture creating ways to build a pavilion above us, seperating us from our Father and Heaven.(Liahona 2012 November Pres. Eyring) We can become caught up on a instance where we were offended and in due time not only do we stop our eternal progression but the progression of those around us. It is sometimes hard to overcome our pride. WE should not be left to think that we cannot overcome it. Every one of us is a leader for someone in some way and in some moment in time. God has commended us to purify ourselves (1 John 3 2-3). This process is not easy and no one said it would. Let this be our goal, to become like our Father in Heaven and strive for it continually. 

LOVE YA"LL!

Elder LeFevre

February 25, 2013

What a great week! Elder P and I had so much fun on the streets talking to people about the gospel. We even got a new investigator with a baptismal date for the 23rd of March! Truly the principle of hard work and diligence has been a great testimony to us elders here in Kurgan. We went from having a hard time getting people to attend church to having a couple of new faces every Sunday and two investigators with a baptismal date in March. Kurgan is pulling through and we have other potentials as well that may come out of the wood work. One other miracle that happened to Elder P and I was that one man came to church that we simply contacted on the street and gave him a pass along card. We are going forth with faith and not letting up on our efforts. 

This last session of English Conversation Group went quite well but all the groups have found it hard trying to get comers to be involved in the converstations that we had. The topic this last week was on families and traditions. I am the leader of the converstaional group and found it awkward some times when I would pose a question relating to relationships between members of the family or things that they like to do together. The majority of the group was silent or answered with a negative comment. I have to admit I was puzzled sometimes but we managed to keep it on topic and positive. The next session we are scheduled to talk about leaders and qualities of a good leader. I can't wait for this week to hear some CCCP stories or opinions on things! Russia's long and interesting history has intriuged me oft while on the mission and I cannot wait to learn more about it in college. 

The members are great here in Kurgan and they really do like having the missionaries around. They are all examples to me of those willing to live the gospel, and love life while doing so. I had to give the lesson in third hour this past week on the talk of "I know it. I live it. I love it" from Sister Dibb in the Genneral Conference Liahona. One of my best teaching moments this past week as the whole group was involved in the lesson and conversation. It was a great Sunday!

Love you all and have a great week!!

Elder LeFevre

February 18, 2013

I would first like to shed some light on the incident that took place in the Chelyabinsk oblast. No one was killed by the meteorite and by the blast of the factory afterwards. I consider it a major miracle that casualties were minimum. The news does a good job as always of exxagerating things that happen, especially in competing countries. I even heard and saw pieces of news reports following the incident. Basically, life moves on and some even captured an awesome video of the meteorite burning up in the atmosphere and then traveling through  the sky! I received a call from Elder M about 1100 am about the meteorite that fell about two hours before. The shock wave of course was probably big since it did knock in a lot of windows in the city, but missionary work continued despite of the fact. We didn't even fell the ground rumble or anything in the peaceful little town of Kurgan.  

On a better note one man that Elder S and I found and started teaching finally got baptized this last Saturday! It just goes to prove that nothing is stopping the work of the Lord from moving forth. We with my companion are trying super hard to find investigators and this week ran into a couple of miracles from our labors. One man came to church and stayed all three hours soaking in every piece of information and wanting to know more about the church. This week we hope to get a meeting to work out with him.

English Conversational Group had its debut this last Thursday and despite the fact that it was Valentine's Day ( aka Hallmark holiday) we had a great turnout and for once everything ran extremely smooth in my conversation with the attendees. Elder P was doing great missionary work answering questions that people had about our church. We even have a a couple of them attending institute with the rest of the members. Now we will be working on getting them to church and teaching them the lessons. We were so excited that we had 36 people show up to the sign of day of English  Our finding efforts were not in vain of course and we learned a lot from organizing this new English conversation group. I am looking forward to the next English conversation that we will be having on Thursday. Perhaps, we will see further interest in people who come. We had fourteen people write down on the sign up sheet that they were interested in learning more about the church.  

Love,

Elder LeFevre

February 11, 2013

It is difficult moving out of apartments and into new ones. It always comes down to the point that you will be making several trips carrying heavy loads up and down several flights of stairs. From last Monday to Wednesday we got everything packed in between meetings and contacting. It was extremely funny to announce the details on zone training meeting about how the move was going to take place. It seemed like I was debriefing a squad of soldiers. The sisters had six bags, we had six bags and the other elders were leaving on a train to Yekaterinburg early in the morning. We ordered two taxis and stuffed them with our bags and then carried them up to the ninth floor quickly to switch spots with the sisters. We moved in to the new apartment that Wednesday and the other elders met them to help with their bags at the train station  After we got situated we got to work calling through everyone in our area book to give us a good idea on our brand new area. Unfortunately no meeting worked out with anyone that was in the area book and instead went contacting with great enthusiasm and excitement to start fresh. This next week we hope to get fourteen new numbers out of our own finding efforts. With the weather warming up, we found it fun and enjoyable to be out and taking our time to talk to people in between meetings with members and less active members. Because in the winter you just get used to the fact that the position that you face was in when you left will be in the same position when you return home. 

We are so excited to knock this transfer out of the park with effort and hard work to bring souls to Christ everyday  The Lord keeps his promises always. Remember to be the light on the hill by serving with your heart mind and strength. By simply acting and applying what we learn the Lord blesses us with the guidance of the Holy ghost in deed and in thought. I have been trying hard to focus about doing good and finding ways to serve someone everyday. This goal has helped me find many little ways to show my respect and love for others. We have been trying to find ways in the branch to do this as well and have seen that it is good to shovel snow or vacuum a room or two. The branch is doing extremely well and seems to be growing in experience. 

English Conversation Group is starting tomorrow at in order to sign people up for courses and inform them about the program that will be taking place. Before that begins we are planning to do a rehearsal to practice our parts in order to make transitions smooth and professional  WE are extremely looking forward to the new program and have had success in getting in touch with people that have been contacted in the past five weeks. We are expecting around sixty people to be there to sign up. We even got a meeting set up with one of the contacts after the sign up hour! Everything is going great here in Kurgan, Russia. We will be working hard to make this week great and full of potential to set up the rest of the transfer with some baptismal dates. 

Love you all!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK! 

Elder LeFevre

February 4, 2013

I am super tired!! Last week was the end of the transfer and it was due time for me to do some traveling! We started out on my epic journey across eastern Europe on Tuesday at 5 pm heading to Tyumen and finally getting back to Kurgan on Saturday at 6 pm. 
(Note from mom: Kyle traveled to ZLC on Tuesday through Thursday, then on Friday morning got a a plane to Finland for his 24 hour Visa Trip, flying back to Tyumen from Finland and then on a 5 hour bus ride to Kurgan)

The topic of the mission in the month of February is patience. Kind of ironic when the topics that are determined by President R  fit extremely well with what is going on in the work here in Kurgan. Elder P and I have been going out and knocking on doors constantly when we have free time at night and contacting during the day in between meetings. Among these many conversations that take place in our everyday activity as missionaries, many ask how people react to our message. I can say people react differently on a wide scale of responses that may seem funny or may even seem damaging to one's faith if you so let it. 

I have learned so much while serving the Lord here in Russia. One attribute that has been a continuing work in progress is ability to be patient on many levels. It may require you being patient with your companion, investigator, branch, leaders, and most of all with yourself. This next transfer we will be essentially starting with a new slate as the sisters are moving out of the city and we will be taking their place on Wednesday. The cool thing is that we know most the members in Kurgan and it will only require us to strengthen that relationship. In due time we will be working diligently and continue being obedient to the Lord and our Mission President. We have been doing well in all aspects of the work and I am only happy to be doing missionary work.

One thing that I have learned with patience is the fact that it does not require us to be passive. In fact, being passive is not being patient. We had such a great discussion on extending baptismal dates with the rest of the zone leaders this past week and the need to be bold and be confident in the Lord, our companion and ourselves. "The Lord does not translate one's good hopes and desires and intentions into works. Each one of us must do that for himself." - Pres. Spencer W. Kimball Rise up and stand for what you know is right. Do not accept anything less than the standard the Lord has set. This applies to how we choose to live our lives and not being bold and loving enough to challenge someone to reach their potential. One general authority explained, " I am convinced that we most times restrict others from joining the church." (Elder Alvin A dyer) We need to continue driving towards the goal, whether that be on the mission field or after. Enduring to the end doesn't mean that you went to the temple and all is "fine and dandy." It means living it and following our Savior every step of the way.

I know this to be true. I know that sometimes we fall short of what we are striving for, only to grow from that experience and by having patience we can repent and continue on the right path. I love you all and know that you can overcome anything with the Lord on your side.

Love,
Elder LeFevre

January 28, 2013

This past week we spent a lot of time on the street in looking for people to attend English Conversation Group, which will be starting on the 12th and 14th of Feb. It is going to be a great program and we are all looking forward to it and preparing for it. Together with the elders we will be running through role plays to make sure to get everything right. Lately I have been teaching the zone on being straight with your investigators and with the members that you visit. Clear communication is always the perfect remedy to prevent any misunderstandings in any relationship. In practicing and applying this principle, we have been able to get our meetings down to the required time of 44 and out the door. Our lessons and success are also getting better. 

Our investigators have been showing their real point of view as we have been straight with them as well by stating that our purpose is to bring people closer to Christ through baptism. Some of our new investigators became disinterested and the story is the same in all the companionship's  We are working hard, however, and are looking forward to see the dawn as we find ourselves in the darkness. We met with less actives and people that we contacted during trackting this past week. Trackting has been decent. Yesterday we got kicked out of four stairwells. One guy even escorted us out. We had one great miracle as a priesthood holder that we have been stopping by for awhile came to church twice. He even went to the temple ten years ago and has not been since. Lately we have been talking a lot about family history and he is really into it. I told him about my experiences with Family Search with my grandpa in preparing names for the temple. He is now super excited and will probably become the branch family historian leader. It is super awesome!!

In the future Elder P and I will be moving to a new area here in Kurgan. That is after I am done with all this travel this next week. Love you all and stay warm in Utah! I haven't fallen once this winter yet! 

Love Elder LeFevre

January 21, 2013

What a great week in Kurgan! We did a ton of finding and it worked out for us like always. We got two new investigators this past week meeting with a family that was placed on the potential list and planning to make tacos with them this weekend. It is going to be a 'kick'!! The zone is doing great work here in Kurgan and I believe that we are all working hard and obedient. Nothing can stand in our way nor are we placing limits upon the Lord. Anytime that we have we are talking to people and knocking upon doors. We had many first lessons with people this week as we have been knocking on doors.

Last night was one of the craziest little encounters I have had in a while being here in Kurgan. We decided to go to a microarea here and talk to all the people that live there. When we go half way down the staircase we ran into a shirtless guy with tattoos filled with symbols of Nazi Germany. His head was shaved and imediately we got the feeling that this guy was a white supremisist. At first he thought we were Jehova's witnesses but we assured him that we weren't and in the end he was convinced that we are cool and that we are true christians. Our assumptions were correct however in his feelings towards other nationalities.

The weather has been jumping up and down constantly and we are still enjoying skiing on the bottom of our shoes from appointment to appointment. I love Russia! People are very hospitable and have been open to listening to our testimonies lately. We are working now on how to get them closer to baptisms witha specific date. The zone has been doing well in our goals for referrals and dates. Our dates however lately have been canceling on us. We are currently at 8 referrals for the month out of 12! Keep praying for us and I love you all. Thanks for sending an email Derek. Good luck on all your missions!

Love,

Elder LeFevre